Rock Lee and the Masked Man
by Arya Celebrimor
Summary: A mysterious Masked Man appears in a bar one night, and he attemps to steal Sakura's heart. What is Rock Lee going to do? and why has he been acting so weird? Read to find out!


**Hello! **I'm happy you're here! I won't tell you who dates Rock Lee, so you will have to read it to find out! I hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter one**

He had been acting weird lately; I mean more than usual. He still hugs Gai sensei… He still gives a thumps up for anything… He still wears green spandex… but something is not right… something is weird… more than usual, I mean…

Sometimes he wakes up with more energy than usual… sometimes he wakes up as if he didn't sleep at all… sometimes he eats too much… sometimes he just doesn't eat at all…

But what was weird with Rock Lee? What a strange situation. Even Neji talked to him about it, and all he got was a blinding smile, a thumps up and an 'I'm fine, but thanks for worrying!'

Tenten asked him another day "You look different… every part of your outfit is the same but… what's going on with you?" and she obtained the same answer than Neji.

Gai sensei made his try the other day… but he got the same. Something was going on with Konoha's young green beast. It was not that he was in love… he had never acted like that before…

But Rock Lee had a secret… and what a secret! It is truly amazing how a secret makes your life more interesting. Which was the secret, you ask? Well, Rock Lee was in love… with Sakura Haruno.

That's not a secret, you say? Well, it's true. It is not a secret. But what is a secret was the way he was wining her heart…

Everything was more in calm since Sasuke left Konoha for the second time, and Sakura admitted not to be so in love with him anymore. Still, Rock Lee was acting exactly the same around her… or not?

He was almost nineteen now. And he was very friendly as always, but… well, I better tell you the story, from now on, from Sakura's perspective.

She arrived one night to this night club with some friends. Temari was visiting the village to report some things to Tsunade, and as the other girls had nothing better to do, they decided to go there and have fun. Night was going quite well, some sake on the table, some dancing going on, some conversations about boys…

And then he came in. "Who's that?!" said Temari, looking at the tight dark green T shirt of the man who just entered to the place. His pants where not tight, but had a military style. He had black dark hair, spiked at the back of his head. And the most interesting thing of him: He was wearing a mask. Not an Anbu mask, but one that looked like a carnival mask. It covered from his forehead to his cheeks, and was black with bright green curved lines. His mouth and neck was covered with a black kind of mask that was almost the same as Kakashi's. He looked very mysterious.

"I don't know" Tenten said. "But he certainly looks good…" she added on a very lusty tone of voice. The others agreed, seeing his well woked arms… and the strong body they could see through his T shirt…

In the back part of the shirt was the Konoha's symbol in averu bright green tone. "He is from here" said Sakura "but I had never seen him before"…

She suddenly moved her view from the guy to the table, for she noticed that he was staring at her. "He i-is c-coming to our t-table!" said Hinata, who was there because the other forced her, and was also enjoying the view. She blushed as the masked man approached to the table.

"Night ladies" He said, a very masculine voice was heard through his mask.

"Hello" "Hi" "Hey" was heard from the table. "Are you enjoying your night?" he asked. "Yeah" "Yes" "We are" was heard from all again. He turned his face to Sakura. "Would you borrow me your beautiful friend for a song?" he asked to the other girls, pointing at Sakura. "Ah" "Yes, take her" "ok" "no problem" They answered. "WHAT?!" said Sakura. "Oh, unless you don't want to" he replied. "Eh… no… I mean… I'd love to" she told him.

They went to the dance floor, and, as the next song started and they began dancing, she found out that he was a great dancer. She couldn't see his eyes through the mask, but she was sure he was looking straight at her.

"You know, I'd feel better if you at least take off that mask from your eyes" she told him.

"Really?" he said "Well, I prefer it to leave it on its place." He answered with a very weird tone of voice, as if he was enjoying her discomfort. "Then I'll have to come back to my table" she replied. "Oh, you won't" he said on a very convinced tone of voice. "Why? Are you keeping me here against my will?" she asked with curiosity "No, but I know you don't want to come back to the table" he replied.

Sakura didn't know what to say. He was right, she was intrigue by the stranger, and she wanted to know who he was. "At least tell me your name" she demanded "I won't" he told her "not tonight at least. I'll see you some other night" he said as he released her when the song finished.

"So he was seriously talking about 'one song'" said Temari as Sakura came back to the table. She stood petrified as she saw the guy disappearing from her view through the people on the dance floor. "Did… did h-he t-tell you his n-name?" asked the shy Hinata. "No, he didn't tell me anything" Answered Sakura "What a lovely man" replied Temari. They kept talking about him the rest of the night, and the next day too.

**Chapter two**

Something wasn't fully ok with Rock Lee. Something was weird, something was missing. Even Neji thought that something was wrong.

Something was wrong with Rock Lee, since a month ago, and Gai sensei had noticed too. Something made his punches more dangerous, something made his face look different, and it was not the fact that his hair was slightly longer.

Something was wrong with Rock Lee, but that day Tenten stopped asking. That day, something was weird with Tenten too. When she described last night's events about the masked man, Neji asked what the freaking hell was Hinata doing there, and Gai sensei suggested that they had to be careful with strangers. Lee took a bucked with cold water over his head, making Tenten's sandals get wet. "Be careful!" she complained to him.

"Sorry" he answered "What did Sakura do after he left?" he asked, not daring to look at Tenten. She then felt awful. How could she forget that her friend was in love with Sakura? "We just talked about him, nothing too special. She wasn't… well, we are not sure whether we will see him again" she tried to comfort him. "I see…" was all he said. "Time to eat" he said, after several seconds, in his normal enthusiastic way. "Yes" she said smiling at him. And they went to eat.

Something was wicked with Sakura. She was very distracted during the trainings. I mean, even Naruto noticed.

"Kakashi sensei" said him "something's wrong with Sakura chan"

"Hmm…" answered Kakashi sensei, looking from his Itcha Itcha book to Sakura "she looks fine" he said.

"But, she is being very distracted!" Naruto replied.

"Why don't you ask her?" Kakashi suggested. Naruto then realized that Kakashi was reading a new book and he wouldn't pay him much attention. So, he walked to the place Sakura sat, watching the grass as if it had something interesting to be seeing.

"Sakura chan" he said, Sakura turned her face to him "is everything ok?"

Sakura doubted for a moment, but at the end, she described the events from last night. Kakashi turned his face from his book to her again and raised an eyebrow. "You really shouldn't talk to strangers" he said as she finished her story.

"I know" she replied "but I'm not even sure if I… I mean, if we will see him again"

"Hmm…" was all Kakashi said.

"Don't tell me you liked him!" Naruto said in his usual loudly way of speaking, watching the blush on Sakura's cheeks.

"Of course not, baka!!" she answered as she hit Naruto on the head "I could't even see his face".

"Auch!" ah, poor Naruto.

"It really doesn't matter anyway" she continued "let's go for something to eat, its lunch time"

"Ramen!!" Naruto screamed. And then they all went for Ramen.

Something was bothering Temari. It was messing up so much with her mind that she had to tell last night's story to Shikamaru. And he answered: "Troublesome. No, Temari, I had never seen a man like the one you described, if describing a mask can be called 'a good reference'" and he also received a punch. Chouji just laugh.

Hinata was acting more nervous than usual. She described last night's experience to her teammates and sensei. Both men began asking things like "what the hell were you doing there?!" "you? There?" "Be more careful next time" "You shouldn't be on those places without our company" and Kurenai sensei just said "You really shouldn't talk to strangers that suspicious so freely". And the three of them had no idea who the masked man could be.

Ino told her story to her friends when she met with them. "We know" said Shikamaru. "Temari already told us" said Chouji. The difference now was that Asuma sensei was with them. "You really shouldn't trust strangers that fast" was all he said. He also couldn't say who the masked man was.

When Kakashi's team arrived to Ichiraku's they found Gai's team finishing lunch. "Hello, Sakura san!" cheered Lee.

"Ah? Oh, hi Lee" said a very distracted Sakura. Lee's face looked to his empty plate again, cheeks on fire, and a kind of weird look on his face. They all said 'hi' to another. "So, have you told them last night's situation?" asked Sakura to Tenten.

"She has" answered Lee, and nobody could see his face now, for he turned it on a different direction, but you can be sure that it had turned on a bight red color.

"I see" she said. "Do you guys have any clues about who the masked man can be?"

"Why?" asked Neji "Do you want to see him again?"

"No! Well… not exactly" she answered "I mean, what if he is not from Konoha, and it's dangerous!?"

Gai turned to face Kakashi and said "I already told Tenten that is dangerous to talk to strangers, especially if they look that suspicious"

"I told that to Sakura too" Kakashi said "you two have to be careful whenever you see him again, understood?"

"Hai" "Ok" "We will" "Don't worry" They answered.

"And next time you go to that club, take the guys with you, so they can support you on a bad situation. Hopefully, they won't need to" said Maito Gai.

"What?" The boys screamed. Well, except Naruto, of course, for he agreed. Sakura punched him on the head again.

"What?" the girls screamed. Good bye to the just-for-women night.

**.**

**Chapter three**

They all went that night to the club. And I mean ALL. Shino and Kiba were worried for Hinata. Naruto was worried for Sakura. Neji and Lee were basically obligated to go by Gai sensei (Neji more than Lee). Shikamaru and Chouji were there because Ino took them with her. Kankurou was there because he wanted to know who the masked man was (he was very bored). Gaara couldn't be there because he was on his village attending some business; Kankurou had arrived that morning.

The night was going very well. Everybody was talking, dancing and having fun. Even Neji was smiling, and that was creepy. All were drinking; except for Lee, of course. He was just looking at a very nervous Sakura. Sakura couldn't stop looking at the door every ten seconds.

"Don't worry Lee" said Tenten "I told you he probably won't appear".

"Yeah…" said Lee "but she is still waiting for him…" he said, looking at Sakura on the other corner of their table. She was glancing at the door again. Tenten said nothing. Neji looked at Lee as he went to the bar for more soda; he had a wicked smile on his face. Neji made a negative movement with his head; perhaps he imagined it. "Sake, please" he heard.

For a moment it didn't sound strange to him. They were on a kind of bar after all. But hey, wait a second… Who asked for the sake? He turned his head so fast that he almost hurts himself. Lee asked for sake on the bar. Lee was about to drink a whole small bottle of sake.

He stood up so fast that hit Chouji. "Lee!" He screamed before reaching the bar. The small bottle froze half the way to Lee's mouth. "Lee, what the hell are you doing!?" he asked furious.

"I want to drink Neji, leave me" he answered on a very, very cold tone of voice.

"Are you out of your mind?" He screamed to Lee "You are a drunken fist fighter! What would Gai sensei tell to you if he… if he looks at you right now?" It had to work, Lee was very sensible at Gai sensei's mention.

Lee froze for a moment. He then looked at the sake bottle. "You are right" he said. Neji sight in relieve. "But tonight…" Lee continued, Neji felt horrified "Tonight I don't care" Neji then put a terrified face as Lee drank the whole bottle. He cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand as he finished "He would have to forgive me" Lee said as he turned around, and ran from Neji to the door.

That's how Rock Lee left the club. Neji was petrified on the bar. He even ordered sake to himself. When Tenten arrived to the place he was, Neji was already finishing his small bottle. He didn't felt the effect of the sake too much, it just relaxed him. But for Lee…

"Two bottles Neji?" Tenten asked "If you wanted to get drunk you should have asked for a big one" she laugh.

"One is Lee's" he said. Tenten's face had a very scared look on it "I told him not to, I told him 'what would Gai sensei say?' and he just said 'I don't care tonight, he will forgive me' or something like that and then ran to the door and left…" Neji drank the last of his sake. Tenten didn't know what to say.

Neji heard Tenten asking for sake. They drank in silence for a few minutes. "He's been acting weird lately… more than usual I mean" said Tenten after a while "I knew something was wrong. Two month's ago he… he… well, he hadn't been the same for two months. I knew something was wrong, but… why? Why did he have to change like thins? What's wrong with him?"

"We should go find him" Neji suggested "Before he does something even more stupid. I'm bored of being here anyway"

Tenten nodded. They apologized to everybody. Nobody had noticed that Lee left, except Naruto, because Lee almost knocked him when he ran away. "He wasn't feeling quite well" was all Tenten said. Then they left.

They ran across Konoha's streets. "He might be in the training ground" Tenten said.

When they where crossing the park something caught Tenten's attention. A man with a white shirt, black pants and military boots was sitting on one of the benches. The white shirt was opened from the neck to a little bit down, revealing part of a well formed chest. He was wearing a full face carnival black mask with bright green circle lines all over it; it had a soft surfeca, you could tell. Tenten stopped and Neji asked "What?"

"I might be wrong" she began "But I could swear this is the guy that danced with Sakura last night" Neji turned to see him. The masked man turned to face them. He then stood up and walked to where they were. He didn't get too close, for Neji was looking at him as if he was going to kill him.

"Who are you?" Neji asked with a very serious look on his face.

"No one" He answered. Neji was sure that the guy was looking directly at him. He was about to activate his byakkugan to see through his mask, when the man raised an opened had in front of him, pointing it to Neji, and said "I will not hurt you, I'm not an enemy. Respect my confidentiality as you respect the anbu's" Neji didn't activate his byakugan.

"How can I…" he began, but he was suddenly interrupted by him, who was now looking at Tenten.

"Tell your pink haired friend that I am very sorry for not appearing tonight. I had other business to do. But please, give her this" he then throw a small black box with bright green circled lines to Tenten. "Don't be afraid" he said, looking at Tenten's unsecured face "It's just a small present" then he made a bow "thank you both. I'll see you some other time" he threw a smog bomb to the floor and disappeared.

Neji would never know what stopped him from looking his face with the byakkugan. Tenten put the box on her purse. "We should go to see Lee" she said, and Neji agreed.

When they arrived to the training ground they found out that Lee wasn't there. They got really worried then. After discussing it they decided to look on Lee's apartment. Nothing. He wasn't there. Tenten began crying, Neji got really worried. Lee really looked hurt when he left; because even when he reached his goal of becoming a jounin, he never reached his goal of having Sakura as girlfriend.

When Tenten calmed down a bit, she whispered "We should go tell Gai sensei, he would know what to do". Neji agreed again.

As they ran to Gai's apartment, Neji began blaming himself. "It's my fault. I should have run after him right after he left. But…It's just that I never thought he would…" he stopped as Tenten began crying again.

"It's not your fault, Neji. I should't have told him about last night. He had nothing to do in the club tonight… It's my fault."

"Then we are both guilty" said Neji. Tenten smiled.

When they arrived to Gai's apartment Tenten made a great effort for not crying again. Gai wasn't there.

"He might be at the hokage's tower" Neji said.

"At one o'clock in the morning?" Tenten replied. "He… I… I don't know!" and she began crying again. Now, Neji really didn't have the foggiest idea what to do or to go next.

"Let's go back to the training ground" he said "It's all we can do" Tenten nodded. He activated his byakkugan, and they searched for them as they made their way to the training grounds. When they arrived, none of them was there. But Neji saw something…

They walked through the woods to a silent spot. They saw then the back of Gai sensei, strangely, he was dressed up with his usual clothing. Neji saw through him, and saw that he had Lee on hi arms. Gai was legs crossed on the forest floor, Lee's head resting on his chest. It was a very weird image, but none of that matter when you've been looking for your best friend, worried whether he is going to disappear for a short time or worst.

"Gai sensei" Tenten whispered. "Is Lee...?"

"He is fine, Tenten" he answered as he stood up, with Lee on his arms. And even when Lee was almost his size, it was amazing that he still fitted on Gai's arms. "Let's take him home"

They agreed. Lee was asleep. Lee was ok. Tenten sight in relieve, so as Neji, but their smiles blew away as they saw the severe look in Gai's face.

When they arrived to Lee's apartment Gai told them where to find the key. After they entered and left Lee on his bed, they all went to the living room.

"Now" said Gai sensei "Why was Lee drunk? What happened tonight?"

They described the events to Gai sensei in the same way that teenagers describe their crimes to their parents. Gai listened carefully everything they said. He was very worried when they finished.

"I see" was all he said.

"Gai sensei" Tenten said "how did you find Lee?"

Gai stood quiet for a minute and then said "I'm going on a mission with Kakashi in..." he searched for the hour on a near clock "half hour. I couldn't sleep so I dressed to train a bit. When I arrived to the training grounds I found Lee sitting on a near trunk and asked him what was he doing. He just screamed 'I'm sorry! I had to do it! Forgive me!' and ran away to the spot you found us. He fell to the floor; I approached him and talked to him for a while, but I couldn't understand a thing of what he was saying. He was drunk of course. Strangely, he didn't act aggressive. I hugged him and he fell asleep. Then you arrived. The few things I understood were 'masked man' 'my dear Sakura' 'I'm so sorry' 'had no other choice'. Now I understand why".

They fell in silence for a while until Gai said that he had to leave. He left them in charge of Lee. Nobody asked why he had to go on a mission at two o'clock in the morning. They'll just have to wait until Lee awakening. Hopefully, things will get better on the morning.

**.**

**Chapter four**

Neji and Tenten fell asleep at nearly three o'clock in the morning. Tenten got the couch of course. The poor Neji had to sleep sitting in front of Lee's bedroom door.

Puck! Was the sound of his head when he fell to the floor; Le had opened his door at almost eight o'clock. He had a horrible headache, and a very confused face.

"Neji!" he said as he saw Neji staring at him from the floor "I'm so sorry! Didn't know you were there!" he helped Neji stand up.

"Is Lee awake?" asked Tenten with a yawn, and a dreamy face.

"Tenten!" said Lee "What are you guys doing in my apartment?"

"Gai sensei told us to look after you" she said. "You made us worry a lot last night"

"Last night?" said Lee, making a hard effort to remember "Last night…"

"You drank a small bottle of sake in front of me Lee, and don't tell me you don't remember, because you were sober when you did it"

Lee blushed; he indeed remembered drinking the bottle of sake, and he actually remembered more than they knew… but he was not going to tell them that.

"Yes, I remember drinking the sake" he said looking at Neji "but I can't remember what I did after that. I'm sorry if I made you feel worried. Please, forgive me"

"That's ok Lee" said Tenten as she approached him to hug him. "But Gai sensei really looked worried, and maybe a little bit angry about the situation. He would probably want to talk to you the moment he returns from his mission".

"I know" said Lee. The others looked at him with questioning looks "oh… I mean… because you said that he told you to look after me"

"Right…" said Neji; he didn't fully believed Lee. He could swear that after Lee drank the sake, he was still sober. He really would have to investigate a bit more about this…

"My head is killing me" Lee went to the couch and sat.

"Go take a bath" said Tenten "I'll buy something for breakfast."

"Thank you, Tenten" said Lee as he made his was to the bathroom.

Once he was inside of it and Tenten left to buy some food, Nei went to Lee's bedroom. Something was not the same with Rock Lee, and he was result to find out what.

He began looking under his bed (with the byakkugan of course). He found nothing, just some training sandals, some shoes, nothing to special.

He looked inside the wardrobe. There he found green spandex, orange legwarmers and two head protectors.

He did the same with the whole bedroom. He had a lot of pictures of Sakura, and some more of his friends and teammates and Gai sensei.

He left the room, very disappointed. He had no clues about Lee's recent attitude, except for the fact that he was in love with Sakura, and her behavior last night hurt him enough to drink and act weird; but the incident with the masked man didn't explain the last two months of unusual behavior.

So, something was absolutely wrong with Lee. Something didn't fit in last night's incident either. What was it? Neji asked to himself. What could it be?

He sat on the couch on Lee's living room, thinking. After a few minutes Lee went out of the bathroom. "Are you feeling better?" Neji asked him.

"A little" was the response.

"I need to talk to you" said Neji with a severe voice. "There's something that's been bothering me lately"

"Oh…ok" said Lee "What is it?"

"You've been acting weird for the last two months. I don't know what it is, but I know something is not ok with you. And last night before you left… well… Maybe I'm crazy, but I could swear that you weren't drunk"

"Ah… well…" Lee didn't know how to answer, but he looked at Neji in the eyes, a fake innocent look on his face "but, I already told you, Neji, I can't remember what I did before drinking that bottle of sa…"

"Don't lie to me Lee!" Neji said with an angry tone of voice.

"I'm not lying. I really can't remember. And about the last two months…" he said, too serious to be the Lee Neji knew "I have no idea what are you talking about"

"…" Neji couldn't reply. Lee was not the same, something was wrong. "Lee, I'm your friend, let me help you. If something is bothering you so hard to make you…"

"Oh shut up!" Lee said, to Neji's surprise "I already told you that I'm fine, isn't that enough for you?"

They looked at each other for several seconds before listening Tenten's voice in the door. She had heard the last part of their conversation "Lee… what is wrong with you?" she said. Thankfully, she had placed the food on the near table, because she fell to the floor…and she was crying.

Lee looked at her. He felt a strange pain on his chest. He had never seen her crying in so much worrying. "I…I'm sorry" he whispered "I'm really sorry. But I'm ok, really…"

"No!" said Tenten from the floor "You are not! Lee…please… what is wrong with you?" Her beautiful chocolate eyes were full of tears. Lee couldn't dare to look at them anymore as he began to cry.

"I'm sorry Tenten" he said, sobbing "I'm so sorry" he turned to the near window "but there's no other way" he dried his tears with the sleeve of his jumpsuit "I better get lost"

"What?!" and before they could react, Lee jumped out of the window and disappeared. Neji tried to follow him with his byakugan, but Lee was too fast, and he lost him of his view within seconds.

**;;**

**Chapter five**

Neji turned then to try to calm Tenten down. They would have to wait until Gai senseis return. Then something slipped from Tenten's pocket, a small, black box with bright green circle marks on it. "I hate this" she said, angrily "This is all that guy's fault! I hate him!" she made an attempt to throw the box out of the window, but Neji stopped her.

"Wait" he said, grabbing her by the wrist "Let's see what's inside first".

Tenten saw the small box, placed now on the coffee table; they were staring at it from the couch. "You open it Neji, I don't even want to touch it" Neji did it.

They were surprised for what they saw. It was a necklace; the thin chain was made if silver, and had a round medal on it. The medal was black, and had a beautiful bright pink Sakura flower in the center.

"It is definitely for Sakura" said Tenten.

"But it is weird" he said; he explain himself to Tenten, for she gave him a puzzled look "I mean, didn't you said that Sakura never gave him her name?"

"He could have been listening to us before he approached" said Tenten "and her hair is pink remember? He could just have thought that it was a good idea to give her this"

"We need to talk to Gai sensei" Neji continued "before reporting Lee's disappearing to the Hokage. We must not say anything to anybody either. We need to solve this by ourselves. The last thing we want is to force Lee to leave the village" Tenten agreed, and, though they were not so hungry, they took breakfast and then left to their respective homes. After taking a shower they met again in front of the Hokage tower.

"Do you think we should give the box to Sakura?" asked Tenten to Neji.

"I don't know" Neji said "But it was for her. Maybe she can decipher who the masked man is"

"Maybe…" said Tenten. "What should I say if she asks for Lee?"

"Tell her he is out for training, it won't surprise her. Tell her we don't know where he is training." Tenten nodded and entered to the tower. Neji left to look for Lee.

As Tenten entered the room where Sakura was studying, she found out that they were not the only ones that didn't sleep very well that night.

"Sakura" whispered Tenten to her; Sakura was asleep on the desk "Sakura!"

"What?" said Sakura with a sleepy voice "Ah… hello Tenten… I'm sorry about this…"

"Don't worry" answered Tenten "Hey, I have something for you" and then she described the incident on the park, saying the innocent lie that they left early because they had to train in the morning. Sakura nodded without asking anything and then opened the box.

"It's beautiful" she exclaimed.

"Yeah" said Tenten "well, I have to go. I'll see you later"

"Wait!" Sakura said "How is Lee? Naruto told me he wasn't feeling alright"

"He felt better this morning" said Tenten, going to the door "He actually went to train alone, you know how he is, no matter if he is injured or ill, he still will force himself to his limit"

"Yeah. I hope he doesn't hurt himself too much" said Sakura, not really paying attention, as she looked the present.

"I'll see you later" said Tenten "Ah… eh… before I forget, do you have any idea when does Gai sensei returns?"

"Tomorrow morning, I think" Sakura answered.

"I see" was all Tenten said before leaving. She would have to find Neji now.

Sakura stared at the silver chain on her hand. She then put it around her neck, not so sure why she was doing it. She then tried to concentrate on her studies again, wit not much success. She fell asleep again.

She wasn't sure about the time she slept, but when she opened her eyes she got a very strong surprise. There, in front of her desk, was the masked man. He was dressed as if he was on one of those old British movies, but without the jacket, just the vest; a black vest. No tie was on his neck, and the white shirt was open on that area, giving a glace to his well formed chest; a full face mask was on his face, like an Anbu mask, but without the animal form. It had a very smooth surface, and was black with bright green circled lines on it.

"How did you…?" began Sakura.

"Your sensei should stop drinking while working" he interrupted her "she stops paying attention to the people who enters to the tower" he continued, with that sexy voice of him that made Sakura blush.

"I see…"she said.

"You liked my present" it was more a statement rather than a question.

"Ah?" said Sakura, touching the chain and medal resting on her neck. "Oh… well, it is very pretty"

"Not as much as you" he said as he stood up "You are just beautiful" he said, approaching to her.

"Don't get closer" said Tsunade's voice from the door "So… I don't pay attention ah?"

"What a fool I am" he said "We'll talk later beauty, I promise you that"

A smog bomb exploded in the room. When they were able to see again the masked man had disappeared.

"We need to talk, now" said Tsunade to Sakura. Shizune was right behind her, and had this serious look too. Something was not good with Sakura, she could tell.

"Hai" Sakura answered. They went then to Tsunade's office, and talked for a very long time.

°o°

**Chapter six**

Something about this situation was very weird, according to Neji's point of view. He had a little clue about what was going on, but he had no proves. What could he do then?

Something was definitely going on; and it was not a good thing, according to Tenten's point of view. What could it be? And where the hell was Neji anyway?

She found him staring at the lake. He was thinking, she could tell. She approached very slowly.

"Neji?" said she.

"Tenten" he answered.

"Neji?" she repeated.

"You already said my name, Tenten" he then turned to face her, a big creepy simile on his face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, very disturbed for the look.

"I have an idea" he said "and I don't like it"

Tenten cocked her head, feeling very puzzled because of Neji's behavior.

"I'll explain to you" and he explained to her.

"Oh my… are you serious?" she said after his explanation, a surprised look on her face. Neji nodded. She agreed, not fully convinced.

"Let's go eat" he said "We will do it before dinner"

And they went to eat.

And they arrived to the nearest restaurant.

There they found everybody hearing the news from Sakura.

The masked man attacked again.

Well, not exactly, but he did appeared again.

Neji looked at Tenten, and she looked at him. They ordered and eat.

Before night came in, before even sunset came in, they went to the forest.

Well, not exactly. It'll be better to say that Sakura walked into the forest, and Neji watched from the distance.

And Sakura waited for a half hour. Nothing. For an hour… still nothing. They were near their training ground, well, not really near, but in the surroundings. They were actually nearer to the spot where Gai sensei found Lee the other night.

They were about to give up when Neji heard something, and before he could even say 'byakugan' something (or someone) hit him on the back of his head. He fell unconscious to the masked man arms.

He then took Neji on his arms, and jumped where Sakura was.

"Chocolate girl" he said, scaring Sakura "I know you are not my beautiful Sakura flower" he said, with his sexy voice. But Tenten didn't blush. She came back to her real self, still worried for Neji. The masked man left Neji on the ground and then said "That was a nice try, chocolate girl, but my beautiful flower has my present on her neck, and you don't"

"My name is Tenten" she defied him "Not chocolate girl. And you must have a name too, I mean, I don't think you enjoy very much being called masked man"

"I used to have a name" he said "But now I don't"

"How are you planning to gain my friend's heart without showing your face or saying your name?" she questioned him. He didn't answer her immediately. 'I bet he never thought about it' she thought to herself.

"I know what I'm doing, chocolate girl" he put even more emphasis on the last words this time.

"My name is Tenten" she replied.

"No" he said, denying with a negative movement of his head "No, it isn't. To me, you are the chocolate girl". And then he left.

Tenten ran to lay down next to Neji. He opened his eyes after a few minutes, asking what had happened.

"I believe we were right" Tenten said with a smirk "and I don't like it"

"Damn" he said "I don't believe we were right; I know we were right. Still I have no idea how did he approached to me without me to notice"

"We will figure out that later" she responded "It's getting late, let's take dinner. We will talk to Gai sensei tomorrow morning, when he returns."

He agreed. They went for dinner, but as they left the place, something caught Neji's attention. A small tear ran down Tenten's face.

"Don't worry" said Neji "I'm sure Lee is fine…"

"No, he is not" she said with a sad face "He is not…" They stopped, and Neji comforted her.

In a near tree, a once-youthful-boy was staring at them in silence. 'Forgive me, dear Tenten' he whispered. Neji turned to see the tree. Just a squirrel. He was getting paranoid. And the not-youthful-anymore shadow disappeared.

"Tenten" he said, suddenly realizing something. How could he be so stupid? "Tenten…?" I won't tell you what he asked and I won't tell you what she answered Muahahaha (yes, this story is driving me crazy… right now I've been writing for three days…and I'm hungry too…).

After their little chat in the woods, they went to take dinner. Tenten felt better now, and Neji was fully recovered from that hit. Everything was ok… well, except for the fact that Lee wasn't with them. But Gai sensei was arriving next morning, and then they would figure out what to do then.

They went to their respective homes after an hour or so. It was almost midnight.

When Tenten arrived home she found out that she was very tired. She took a bath to relax herself, and then put her pajama. In the moment she laid on her bed, she began crying again. 'Lee… where are you?' She fell asleep after a few minutes. She was very tired after all.

When Neji arrived home he found out that everybody was already sleeping. Well, everybody but a certain cousin that was sitting in front of his bedroom door.

"Hinata sama" he whispered "Why are you awake this late?"

"I couldn't sleep" she said. "There's something…some…something I…I need to t-tell you…" she began feeling nervous.

Neji cocked his head as he gave her an expecting look. "So? What is it?" he asked in a calm voice.

"Well…the first thing…i-is t-that I know…I-I know who the m-masked man is…" At this, Neji gave her a deeply surprised look. "I… had known it since the n-night t-that he danced w-with Sakura c-chan; but he made me promise t-that I wouldn't s-say a-anything"

"What?" said Neji. "And why are you telling me this now?" he questioned her.

"B-because…" Oh yeah, I won't tell you the next part of the conversation, muahahaha!

They talked about it for several minutes, after which Neji said:

"So I was right…" he said, Hinata looked at him with an expectant look "We'll talk about this later. Have you told anyone else about this?" Hinata made a negative movement with her head "That's ok, please don't do it" she agreed "But… you said that this was the first thing, so, what else did you wanted to tell me?"

Hinata blushed violently this time, and she turned her face to the near pound on the small garden they were looking at. Neji got confused about this. Hinata couldn't turn to see him. Neji knew he had seen that face before… where…? That face…That way of blushing…Oh no…

Neji was the one who violently blushed now. No, it couldn't be that…

"Hinata sama…" he said, placing his hand on her face, forcing her to see him in the eyes…

And as they had a lot of things to talk about that doesn't really concern this story, we will have to find out of what later. Hehehe…(evil smile)

**--**

**Chapter seven**

Something was weird with Neji next morning. He woke up unusually early, and took breakfast before everybody else. He didn't train that day. He left before everybody awoke. Weird.

Something was really weird about Hinata. She woke up unusually late next morning. Everybody had finished when she woke up.

Strangely, there was a happy smile on both faces. But of course, they only saw Hinata's.

Something about Tenten's aura in the next morning was not ok. It was sad. She was sad. But still she managed to wake up early. And after taking breakfast, she went to meet Neji at the Hokage tower.

Nine o'clock. Gai sensei wasn't coming they were told. They had to stay another day, the mission was more difficult than they had expected. Damn.

"What are we going to do?" asked Tenten.

"I wanted to wait until Gai returned, but I guess I'll have to tell you now" and then he told her everything his cousin told him last night. Well, not exactly everything…but good enough to make a new plan of action…

Meanwhile…

Sakura went out for a walk next morning. She was looking at the dock, wondering who the masked man could be, wondering if she would be able to force him to reveal his real identity whenever she saw him again.

She touched the medal on her neck. Whoever he was, he was definitely attractive as a bad boy. She smiled remembering the last bad boy she fell in love with. Nothing too good came out of it. So, nothing good could come from this either.

She was about to throw the small piece of jewelry to the lake when someone spoke behind her:

"I thought you had liked it" she turned to see the masked man staring at her from the other side of the dock. He was dressed with a similar outfit than last day's, but the vest was dark green now. His spiked hair in the back of his head gave a theatrical aura to his person.

"I did liked it" she said "But I don't want any present from strangers"

"You still want my name" he said, she nodded "if I tell you my name, you will find out who I am. And I don't want that. Not yet anyway…"

"Why?" she asked "Are you afraid of me rejecting you?"

"More or less" he answered her "I'm not ready yet"

"Ready for what?" she asked.

"To let you know my true new self. Please, be patience."

And before she could even blink, he had disappeared.

Tenten went to Lee's apartment that morning. She opened his door and came in. She began cleaning the apartment, for it'll be necessary to keep it clean for Lee's return.

She began crying again. 'What if he never returns?' She thought. 'What if everything goes wrong and he…'

"Tenten" said Lee's voice, whispering on her left ear.

She froze. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't say a thing. She couldn't even turn to see him, for she was too afraid of having a daydream.

"Don't turn, Tenten" she wouldn't have done it even if she wanted to. She was too afraid of see him in the eyes. "I'm fine, Tenten, don't worry. And… don't bother on cleaning my apartment"

"W-why n-not?" she asked, too scared now of his response.

"I won't come back, Tenten" he said. She began crying again "Don't cry please" he whispered. She could have sworn that he was crying too. "It is the best, believe me…"

"How could it be…" she turned to face him, but he disappeared. She sat on the floor and began to really cry. "Please Lee, come back!" she screamed to the air "Lee...! Don't go… I… I…"

And then Neji came in… with Gai sensei…

"Tenten! What's wrong?!" asked a very worried Neji.

"My youthful girl, what has life made to you?" asked Gai sensei, opening his arms to receive Tenten.

"Gai sensei!" and for the first time sice she know him, she allowed him to hug her. And she cried on his arms as she explained her recent experience. They all agreed that they had to resolve it by their own. They couldn't involve anybody else. Not even Sakura. Wait… Sakura… what an interesting idea… It just came to me in a flash really… wow…

"I have an idea" said Gai after Tenten had calmed down a bit. "Listen carefully"

So, they made a new plan. It involved Neji's cousin. It involved Sakura. It involved a very strong net…

Alright, alright! It didn't involve a very strong net, but it could have been a good idea anyway.

So they went to talk to Sakura and Hinata. Hinata agreed. Sakura nodded, even when she was still in shock for what she heard. They decided to get into action the following night, for they needed a rest and just in case the masked man was planning to appear to Sakura that night.

**n.n**

**Chapter eight**

Sakura went to the bar on that night, against Gai's recommendation of not doing it until the following night. And she went alone, by the way.

And she waited. And waited. And waited until it was midnight. She then decided that she had to go home and rest. Next day would be very crazy if their plan worked.

She left the bar a few minutes after midnight, and walked through the park in order to arrive home and clear her mind. She was in the very center of the park when she had a feeling… and not a very pleasant one I must say. She had the feeling that someone was watching her. She turned and asked "Who is there?" No answer. Perhaps, she was going crazy. She returned to her pat, but after a few steps she stopped. There, in front of her, on the nearest lamp post, was the masked man.

"Hello" he said. Sakura wasn't scared. She knew what she had to do.

"Hi" she said. He approached her "ready to tell me who are you?"

"Not yet" he answered "But I'll be soon"

"Are you sure of what you're doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked. 'Shit' she thought.

"Nothing" she answered. He cocked his head.

"Sakura" Naruto whispered behind her "Is he…?"

But when Sakura turned to face Naruto, the masked man disappeared.

"Hey! Come back here!" Naruto screamed.

"Baka!!" Sakura screamed, beating Naruto on the head. She didn't tell anything to Naruto about what she had discussed with Team Gai. Or, well, she didn't want to. But Sakura had never been a good liar anyway.

Meanwhile, the not-so-mysterious-now masked man was running to his hidden place. He didn't know someone was waiting him there.

He arrived to the secret emergency place of Konoha, that was used only in times of need. Or at least was used to be used on times of need. This place, outside Konoha, was not useful anymore. The new ones on the Hokage's monument were the ones on use now.

He slipped silently into one of the bedrooms, the mask still on his face. He then heard something; he was not as stupid as he looked.

"Who is in there?" he asked, without even turning around. He kept the calm, putting his things on his bed.

"Tenten" she said.

"The chocolate girl" he corrected her.

"Nop, just Tenten" she said.

"…" he didn't reply immediately "How did you find me?"

"We knew you were going to try to talk to Sakura again" said Neji's voice, which was now coming out of the darkness.

"A trap…" the masked man whispered.

"We knew Sakura was going to try to see you again" said Gai sensei, coming out of his hidden place too "We knew she would after we told her your real identity"

"Don't play tricks with me" he said, facing them for the first time on that night. "You don't know who I am… you can't know who I am…" he said this last thing as if he was trying to convince himself.

"The game is over" said Tenten with a very soft voice "Please, come back home…Lee…"

He froze. It couldn't be. It was ridiculous. They couldn't…

"I…I have no idea what…"

"It's enough, Lee" said Neji; he was using his byakugan.

"So, we weren't wrong" said Gai sensei. Neji nodded.

"How…how long…" asked a very stunned Lee; he didn't removed his mask anyway.

"A day, maybe" said Neji.

"Lee… please, take off that mask" said Tenten.

"No" said Lee "You told that I am the masked man to Sakura?" he asked, his tone of voice was kind of angry now.

"Yes we did" Gai said "and thanks to that we were able to follow you here"

"Please, Lee. Take your mask off" Tenten insisted.

"I said no!" Lee screamed "Why did you have to ruin this?" he asked, very angry.

"Lee, stop this madness immediately!!" Gai sensei's voice sounded even more pissed off than Lee's "What happened to you, my youthful student?" small tears began falling down his cheeks.

"I had no other choice" he said with an ashamed tone, and turning his face to the floor "But what difference does that make now? You already destroyed my plans. There's no need to keep on this anymore…"

He made an attempt to jump out of the window (the place was on one side of a mountain, so it was a very big falling) but Neji caught him before he could succeed.

"Leave now!! I want to die!!" he felt Neji's fist on his stomach; but Neji was not as strong as he was, so he just hit him back. Neji wasn't as fast as Lee either.

Then was Gai sensei's turn. He tried to stop Lee, but after a little fight, Lee took a kunai and pointed it to his own heart.

"No Lee!" Gai screamed "Don't be so stupid!"

"I have been stupid all these years" he said "believing that she would love me. Of course she wouldn't and who would?" a small tear escaped from the mask and slipped to the floor "I'm just a looser"

"No you are not!" Tenten desperately screamed, with tears falling all over her face "You are a jounin now Lee! Everybody told you that you wouldn't make it, but you did! Isn't that enough for you? We love you Lee! I…"

"No! Shut up! Maybe I reached that goal, but I never won Sakura's heart, and my life has no sense without her. I just… can't live without her!"

And he placed a kunai on his left leg. Very deep into his left leg. He dropped the kunai that was pointing at his heart. It had been a successful ditraction. Blood began falling from the injury. He then took it off, and ran to reach the window. They didn't realize before, but Lee had thrown them very far from it. So he fell. He was surely going to die now.

But Tenten was not going to give up. She took out her weapons. Actually, she took out a chained weapon. She caught Lee in the air. Neji and Gai helped her to bring him up.

They placed Lee on the floor. He was not moving.

"The kunai had poison on it" said Gai "We need to remove it" He then ripped Lee's clothes on the injured area.

"Remove his mask" request Neji to Tenten. She did what he said, and soon she wished she hadn't.

Lee was pale, with an unhealthy white color on his face, and not exactly because of the poison, and looked like he hadn't sleep very well for the few days he disappeared, nor eaten very well. And for make things worst, he was hardly breathing now.

"Oh Lee!" Tenten said. She then hugged Lee, resting his head on her chest. "What have you done to yourself?" she was crying with a very deep pain on her chest.

"W-why c-can't you j-just let me d-die in p-peace?" he said with a very weak voice.

"Baka!" she screamed to him "Because I love you!!" Lee widened his eyes, staring at Tenten as if he didn't understand what she just said. Life was abandoning him.

And then Tenten did what nobody expected her to do (but I believe that you, my dear reader, already imagined it). She kissed him. She kissed him deeply. Literally, she kissed him as if he was going to die soon. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't move anyway, so, it didn't matter. After she pulled apart Lee fell unconscious. She cried harder then, but Gai interrupted her.

"We need to take him with Tsunade sama" said Gai "I already stopped the poison effects, but I don't know for how long"

So they did it. They took him to the hospital. After two awful hours of waiting, Tsunade finally went out of his room, and allowed them to visit him. Gai didn't do it though, for he had to explain the whole mess to her.

**Chapter nine**

Neji and Tenten were staring at Lee. He looked so weak. Even Neji left a tear ran down his cheek. Tenten was crying on Lee's chest.

Neji dried his silent tears and then told Tenten "I'll leave you alone. I'll be outside; if you need anything…"

"Thanks…" said Tenten, and she kept crying on Lee's chest after Neji left.

Lee didn't know how much time he slept. He wasn't even sure he was alive, but he wished he wasn't. Too bad for him, because he indeed was alive. But he couldn't move. He tried to move his arms, and he couldn't. 'Must be the poison' he suggested to himself. He then opened his eyes; he had the feeling that something not too heavy was lying on his chest. He closed his eyes again, and a small tear slipped from his eyes to the pillow. Tenten was asleep on his chest, and she had been crying a lot, he could tell.

'I love you'. Her words crossed his thoughts over and over again, like a kind of weird punishment. But he was still in love with Sakura…wasn't he? He had to… he really wished to be death.

He closed his eyes in pain, and made a big effort to move his right hand; he couldn't do it by the first try, but he wasn't exactly the kind of person that gives up at an obstacle or problem. So he kept fighting against his body, until he finally was able to place his hand on Tenten's head. He gently moved his fingers across her hair. He won the battle against his body. No, he was not the type of looser that would surrender without fighting…

He winded his eyes. How could he be so stupid? Tears began to fall down his face. How could he cause so much pain to his friends, his family? And there was Tenten…

'Oh Tenten' he thought 'please forgive me' he fell in a mental silence for a moment. 'I…I don't know if I could…If I could… love you…I'm so confused…you shouldn't have saved me…'

"Lee…?" Tenten asked in a whisper, raising her view from Lee's chest. Lee wished he could dry his tears of his face. "Lee…" tears began falling down her face again (yes, I know, too much crying, but ask yourselves: What would you do on a situation like this? Besides, this is a drama story anyway…)

"You are…you are really awake…I can't believe it…Tsunade sama… she told us that it would take you…days…maybe weeks…oh Lee!" And she embraced him. He could feel how the warm of her body was curing the wounds of his broken heart. She returned his weak body to his lying position, and then tried to stop crying, with not much success.

"Te-Ten-ten" he tried to speak, but every word was hurting him so much.

"Shh…"she shut him up "You mustn't speak; you are not well enough yet. Try to sleep again, I…I'll stay by your side, I promise" she gave him a smile. He felt so guilty…and so weak…

"A…ri…ga…tou…" That was all he could say before closing his eyes, and falling asleep. Between dreams, he could hear Tenten's crying, and saying 'thank you, kami-sama…'. He couldn't remember anything else of that night.

**''**

**Chapter ten**

He woke up late next day, and he didn't open his eyes immediately. Instead, he heard a conversation that took place next to his bed.

"Is he going to be alright?" Gai's voice asked.

"Yes he is" answered Tsunade "I can't believe how fast he is recovering".

"So, when he can leave the hospital?" asked Neji.

"As soon as he can walk" answered Tsunade. "I'd like to have a word with you before you leave" she said to Gai.

"It's ok, we can talk now" answered Gai looking at Neji. Neji nodded, he was staying with Lee until Gai returned.

Lee heard the sound of the door opening and closing. He then sensed Neji sitting on the chair next to his bed. Where was Tenten?

"I know you're awake" he said to Lee after sitting.

Lee opened his eyes. He still couldn't move his legs, but his arms seem to be fine.

"You scared us all" Neji continued "what were you thinking Lee?"

Lee didn't answer; instead, he turned his face to the window, avoiding Neji's eyes.

"Lee, talk to me" said Neji "We are friends Lee, and I'm worried, and I'm not only worried for you" Lee understood what he meant; he was talking about Tenten.

"Ten…ten…"he whispered, still unable to normally talk.

"She went home to rest. You hurt her Lee, by doing that stupid thing. I'll ask again, and I want an answer this time. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I…d-don't…know…" he answered "m-maybe I j-just wan-wanted t-to die…"

"I know you wanted to die, that was pretty obvious. I was asking about the masked man thing" Neji was disappointed, Lee could tell.

"S-Sakura…san…" he couldn't speak. His throat was in too much pain.

"This is ridiculous…" Neji was clearly upset. "You did this whole play just to get her? You are definitely more stupid than I thought. Look at yourself Lee, look what you've done to you in order to reach your precious goal, look how much pain you've caused". Neji was getting frustrated. He wanted to cry, but of course he didn't, not in front of Lee at least.

"I'm…sorry…didn't…mean t-to" said Lee's voice.

"You better be" Neji replied "I'll forgive you, baka, but…you have to promise me that you would never do anything like pretending be someone you are not, or hurt your friends by leaving home, or trying to suicide"

"I…want…to…die…" Lee said. Neji felt anger and, without thinking, he grabbed Lee by the shirt of his pajama and approached his face to his own.

"Don't be an idiot!" He screamed "next time you try to suicide I'll kill you myself" he throw Lee back to his bed "wake up Lee! You are telling me that life doesn't worth because you don't have that girl with you? That's insane! Stop begging for her love and accept things like they are! You cannot win every battle, Lee, and you just lost this one. But open your eyes don't be blind! What are you going to tell Tenten? She loves you Lee! She really does…"

Lee said nothing. He felt as he was in the darkest hole of the world, and there was no light in it. Neji's words sounded so empty…

"Aren't you going to say anything?" said Neji, feeling very frustrated now.

"Neji" Gai sensei spoke from the door. He had seen the whole scene. "Leave us alone." Neji hesitated, but he left the room anyway; he turned to face Lee again before leaving it. Lee was now facing the window.

Gai stood by Lee's side in silence for several minutes after Neji left, as if he was trying to find the right words to say. He couldn't handle it. He left the room without saying anything.

Lee couldn't handle it either, not anymore. He was sick of that feeling. If nobody could rescue him from that freaking damn hole, he would have to rescue himself. He had had enough of his own stupidity too.

He made an inhuman effort to sit on the bed. He felt pain on his chest, probably because of the medication. But it was ok anyway, for being a taijutsu master gave him the power of control his own body, and the pain in it too.

He stood up. He fell to the floor at first, but he then helped himself with a near small table. When he finally put himself together, and could finally remain stand, he took a deep breath, and then he whispered "first door, open!"

An abnormal energy hit the window. He prepared himself for the next. "Second door, open!" He had now energy enough to walk and leave the room. He searched for his clothes, changed them (Tenten brought some clean clothes for him to the hospital) and left by jumping out of the window. The nurse arrived too late.

"Gai sempai! Gai sempai!" Shizune was breathless when she arrived to the place where the rest of the team Gai was having lunch.

"What's going on, Shizune?" he said.

"I'ts…Lee…he…left the hospital…" she ran really fast.

"What!?" the three of them said.

They were tired of searching. They got really scared this time. He wasn't anywhere. The guards of the gates told them that he didn't went out. What would they do then?

"There's…" Tenten suddenly interrupted her crying, remembering something. "There's one place we hadn't check yet"

It didn't take them long to reach it.

"Lee's old dojo" Neji whispered, looking the outside of the building, now old and long abandoned.

They approached silently to the window. Tenten sight in relieve as she saw Lee training on the old wooden surface.

"3037…3038…" he counted; he was doing push ups in the pine position.

He suddenly stopped. He stood up and cleaned the sweat on his forehead with the bandages of his right hand.

"Took you long enough" he said, not daring to face the window.

"Lee!" Tenten entered running, and gave him a hug. She didn't care that he was all covered in sweat. "Oh Lee…" Lee just smiled at her. He didn't know what to say to her.

"I'm glad you are feeling better" said Gai sensei approaching him "You…little young BAKA!!" and he gave him a punch that sent him through the air to the nearest wall. "Now…you two get out of here…" he said to Tenten and Neji. "Lee and I are having a little chat…what are you waiting for? An invitation?" so they went the hell out of there. Gai was pretty scarier when he was angry…

They couldn't hear anything waiting outside the dojo…or that's what they said to Gai sensei when he came out. They (both) got very scared hearing the punches, the kicks and the screaming. It was really creepy, actually, listening to 'that was so un youthful' 'what the hell were you thinking?!' (When Gai began screaming this kind of things that they had never heard from him, even Neji got worried for their friend's safety) 'How could you do this to yourself?' More punches 'how could you do this to us?' A new window was made on one of the walls 'Baka! Fool! Idiot!' Another hit was heard 'Don't you ever do this again! Do you hear me? NEVER! IF YOU DO IT, I'LL PERSONALLY KILL YOU!' What a civilized conversation don't you think? 'I'm very disappointed, Lee, I really am'

Of course, it was not a one sided conversation. Between the punches and screams from Gai, you could hear 'I'm sorry' 'I won't do it again' 'I didn't mean to!' 'Forgive me!' Lee really didn't think he deserved forgiveness, but Gai turned so violent, that, well, if Neji and Tenten got scared and were outside, you can imagine how poor Lee was.

But after what looked hours to Lee, Gai stopped, and looked at him with wet eyes, and before you could say 'spring of youth' he was hugging Lee, crying and feeling relieve that his youthful student was almost fully recovered… "Lee, my youthful student, please don't you ever do this again!" Lee began crying; he had forgotten how nice it felt when Gai, the man that was like a father for him, hugged him.

"I won't, Gai sensei…I'm so sorry!"

"I'll forgive you then!"

"Gai sensei"

"Lee!"

"Here we go again…" said Neji. He and Tenten were spying on the window now that the violence stopped.

"But he will have to go back to hospital after that 'chat'" said Tenten.

"I'm glad he is better" said Sakura behind them.

"Sakura…" Tenten whispered.

"Don't worry, I won't let him to see me" she said "His hospital room is ready, so hurry up!" They nodded, and Sakura left. A nice smile was on her face. She knew she couldn't love Rock Lee, for she was in love with somebody else, but at least she would still care for him as friends do. And who knows? Maybe they could be better friends in the future.

Lee knew this too. She would never love him. But he was young, as Gai said, and maybe, with time, he would fall in love again with somebody else.

Tenten knew that it would take time to Lee to fully recover from all this mess, but she was decided to help him. No matter what, she was going to be by his side. And, who knows? Maybe one day she could win his heart…

Neji didn't want to think about the whole mess. He had other things to worry about. But still…They were his friends, his family…or something like that. He swore to himself never to let this happen again.

To Gai, these children (because to him, they were still children) were HIS children, like his sons and daughter. He swore to himself to protect them from pain and misery for the rest of his life, as far as he could of course.

And so they took Lee to the hospital (and it took him a whole month to fully recover…Gai apologized too many times that Neji lost the count; Lee only kept saying that he deserved it.). Tenten gave him fruit from time to time, and even Sakura went to visit him once…

"Hi, Lee" she gave him a dozen of roses.

"Hi" he said with embarrassment. Then they spoke for a very long time.

When Naruto went to visit him, he felt that he would never be able to call him 'fuzzy brows' again.

And so life kept going on. And things began to change for good, thankfully.

Something was weird with Rock Lee; just that now on a positive way: he was happier now, trying to enjoy every single moment of his youthful life; he used to hang out with the boys more often, and he also grew stronger that any of them could possibly imagine.

And something was also weird with Neji: He actually began smiling…and it was creepy at first, but they got used to it. What actually really scared Tenten and Gai was that he even allowed Lee to hug him… something was definitely weird about it…

Finally, something was also weird with Tenten. She was brighter now, and she was better at fighting too (She learned how to use a bow and arrows, and she became the best at it). Future was scary to her, but she tried to not pay much attention to that matter anyway. And when a year pass, and the event was beginning to be forget, she finally went out with Rock Lee, and the future didn't seem to be so bad then…

Gai just watched them recovering their lives with joy, and he was as happy and proud as a father could be. Lee never gave him a reason to hit him again, and the world became a brighter place, so as the people in it.

**.**

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So, did you like it? I hope you did it! I promise that if I recieve at least four reviews, I will write an epilogue with all the unfinished conversations, and maybe what happened after a few years or something like that... you tell me what you want! Leave a review! And thaks for reading! LOL.


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